Die kernvraag wat in die mini-verhandeling verken word, is hoe dominees in hulle hantering van die dood in enkele kreatiewe werke van Karel Schoeman uitgebeeld word en baie spesifiek hoe persone in die amp in die Protestantse tradisie (dominees en pastore) en hulle hantering van sterwensprosesse en -rituele in enkele werke van Karel Schoeman wat in Suid-Afrika afspeel uitgebeeld word. Ten einde hierdie vraag te beantwoord is ʼn keuse gemaak om na twee tekste te kyk, naamlik ʼn Lug vol helder wolke en ook ʼn Ander land. Daar is inderdaad ook ander tekste van Schoeman wat hierdie lesing sou kon dra, byvoorbeeld Die uur van die engel, maar die omvang van hierdie mini-verhandeling is egter van so ʼn aard dat daar nie reg sou geskied aan so ʼn besondere teks binne hierdie kort bestek nie. Vanuit ʼn hermeneutiese invalshoek word gebruik gemaak van ʼn sogenaamde sosiaal-wetenskaplike leesstrategie wat in hierdie ondersoek fokus op ritualiteit ten opsigte van die laaste oorgang, te wete die dood. Rituele kan as ʼn lens beskou word ten opsigte van die onderliggende oortuiging van die deelnemers aan die rituele en gevolglik word die fokus veral geplaas op die oorgangsrituele wat ten opsigte van die dood ter sprake is, asook die gepaardgaande sterwensprosesse. Teoreties gesproke word daar veral aangesluit by bestaande werk vanuit die domein van die sogenaamde Ritual Studies, spesifiek ook werk wat handel oor oorgansgrituele. Hier word spesifiek ʼn keuse uitgeoefen om nie net die werk van Arnold van Gennep en Victor Turner te gebruik nie, alhoewel hulle pionierswerk uiteraard as fondament dien, maar eerder ook werke van resente eksponente in die veld, naamlik Catherine Bell en Ronald Grimes te betrek. Die werk van Bell en Grimes word verder geaugmenteer met bestaande teorie rakende die sterwensproses en spesifiek dan ook die werk van Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. Hierdie teorie word metodologies toegepas op bogenoemde twee kreatiewe tekste deur middel van ʼn sosiaal-wetenskaplike lesing wat fokus op ritualiteit by die laaste oorgang in die lewensloop van die mens. Die mini-verhandeling sluit met enkele gevolgtrekkings en voorstelle vir verdere navorsing.
The main research question that is explored in the mini-dissertation is how ministers in their handling of death are portrayed in two creative texts of Karel Schoeman. Specifically the question is posed how persons in the office of the minister in the Protestant tradition (reverends and pastors) and their handling of dying processes and –rituals in a few creative texts of Karel Schoeman are portrayed. In order to answer this question a choice was made for two texts, namely ʼn Lug vol helder wolke as well ʼn Ander land. There are indeed other texts of Karel Schoeman that could have also been utilised, for example Die uur van die engel, but this mini-dissertation is however of such a limited scope that it would not have been possible to do justice to such a rich text. From a hermeneutical perspective a so-called social-scientific reading strategy was utilised with a special focus on rituality with regards to the last transition, namely death. Rituals can be seen as lenses with regard to underlying convictions and therefor the focus was placed on rites of passage with regards to death as well as the dying process. Theoretically speaking insights from the domain of the so-called Ritual Studies were utilised, specifically also work regarding rites of passage. A choice was deliberately made to not only use the work of Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner, although their pioneering work functioned as a foundation, but rather more recent exponents within the domain of Ritual Studies and specifically the work of Catherine Bell and Ronald Grimes. This work of Bell and Grimes was augmented with existing insights regarding the dying process and specifically also the work of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. The theory was methodologically applied to the two chosen texts by means of the mentioned social-scientific reading with a special focus on rituality at the last transition in the life of a human, namely death. The mini-dissertation closes with some conclusions and suggestions for further research.
